“Connecticut has a gun problem,” Hartford, Connecticut’s courant.com declares. Roger that. “Guns defined in state law as assault weapons can no longer be bought or sold in Connecticut. Such guns already held can be legally possessed if registered. But owning an unregistered assault weapon is a Class D felony. Felonies cannot go unenforced.” Wait. What? Is the Courant calling for Governor Malloy to start a civil war? Because that’s what will happen if the State Police start confiscating now-illegal unregistered modern sporting rifles. Oh sure, thousands of now-felonious CT gun owners will capitulate in the face of force. But tens of thousands won’t. And a percentage of these will defend their rifles with their life. Maybe that’s why the Courant is recommending that . . .
. . . the registration period should be reopened. It should be accompanied by a public information campaign.
Although willful noncompliance with the law is doubtless a major issue, it’s possible that many gun owners are unaware of their obligation to register military-style assault weapons and would do so if given another chance.
In other words, the gun owners will comply if they are given one final warning before confiscation begins. And begin it shall.
The bottom line is that the state must try to enforce the law. Authorities should use the background check database as a way to find assault weapon purchasers who might not have registered those guns in compliance with the new law.
A Class D felony calls for a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Even much lesser penalties or probation would mar a heretofore clean record and could adversely affect, say, the ability to have a pistol permit.
If you want to disobey the law, you should be prepared to face the consequences.
Is that a threat to end civil disobedience by force of arms from the oldest continuously-published newspaper in the United States, the The Constitution State’s largest dead tree daily rag? Yes. (Although you may not be surprised to hear that the the Times Mirror (the Los Angeles Times‘ parent company) bought the Courant in 1979.) And if the Courant is talking war you can bet Governor Malloy’s boys are doing the same.
The statists who enacted this law better let sleeping dogs lie. Or they will have to face the consequences, too. That’s not a threat. It’s a prediction.